To explore the topic of influence and how we, as business owners, wield influence in our life and work, Vivian Kaye returns to give a look inside how to stay authentic when you have attention of tens of thousands of followers. In this episode, Vivian shares her experience of the growth of her influence, and how she uses her platform to fuel her personal brand, a product brand, and her mission to make an impact in the world.
Get full show notes for this episode here >>
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Listen to more Being Boss shows on our website, on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Follow Being Boss on Instagram: @beingbossclub
Join the Being Boss Community: beingboss.club/community
To explore the topic of influence and how we, as business owners, wield influence in our life and work, Vivian Kaye returns to give a look inside how to stay authentic when you have attention of tens of thousands of followers. In this episode, Vivian shares her experience of the growth of her influence, and how she uses her platform to fuel her personal brand, a product brand, and her mission to make an impact in the world.
Get full show notes for this episode here >>
---
Listen to more Being Boss shows on our website, on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Follow Being Boss on Instagram: @beingbossclub
Join the Being Boss Community: beingboss.club/community
Emily Thompson: [00:00] One of the earliest Being Boss is that being boss is being, you are a hundred percent of the time. It's showing up as authentically yourself, even if you're tired of the word authentic because it's become such a buzzword, but what does that mean to be authentic? And what can it mean for your business?
Welcome to Being Boss. A podcast for creatives, business owners and entrepreneurs who want to take control of their work and live life on their own terms. I'm your host, Emily Thompson. And in today's episode, I wanted to have a conversation about authenticity and influence and impact and the being boss community.
This month, we're navigating the topic of influence and along with some prompts to identify the areas of your life and work where you have, or want influence and some challenges to show up in the places where you want to build your influence. I wanted to bring to you and my community members a chat with one of the most authentic bosses we've ever had on the show.
I first had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with Vivian Kaye at the being boss conference in spring of 2020, she joined us to talk about marketing and e-commerce, and you can hear our live interview with her in episode number 237, called authenticity in marketing. Since recording the episode Vivian's influence has grown and I've watched her Instagram following and engagement grow by leaps and bounds.
So what happens though, when someone who preaches authenticity suddenly has tens of thousands of eyes on her. What has it meant for how she shows up on social media and the impact it's had on her business? That's what I wanted to talk to her about the growth of her influence and how she's chosen to willed it as a personal brand, a product brand, and a woman wanting to make an impact in the world.
Vivian Kaye is the founder and CEO of Kinky Curly Yaki a premium textured hair extension brand for black women that she bootstrapped to over $6 million in revenue, her presence, and genuine desire to continuously learn and grow while keeping it real quickly made her a personality who transcended the title of founder and CEO.
Ultimately, she organically grew her personal platform by exchanging tips and tricks that she learned on her personal entrepreneurial journey. As a business empowerment coach e-commerce expert, TV, radio, and podcast personality, Vivian sets out to empower, uplift, and educate her audience into action.
Along with her philanthropic efforts through mentorship and her position with the. Founders fund. She has worked with many notable brands, such as Shopify, TedTalks, Unilever, and LG to name a few.
Vivian, I am so glad to have you back on the show. Welcome back to Being Boss.
Vivian Kaye: [02:56] Thank you for having me.
Emily Thompson: [02:58] Are you ready to have a fun chat about marketing or whatever else comes up? If we need to totally derail this and talk about cheese I'm down for it. That's the day I'm having.
Vivian Kaye: [03:08] Okay. You know, get on with it. It's that tight. It's that kind of life we're having. So I'm one with it. I'm with it.
Emily Thompson: [03:16] I'm interested to see if this comes back around to cheese in my mind.
Vivian Kaye: [03:23] It just wasn't knowing us. It's just like.
Emily Thompson: [03:26] Oh man! Well, I would like to start this out. It's been almost a year since you were on the show, which in itself, blows my mind. We were just joking about how you know, was that a year ago or 15 years ago? We don't know, but I would love to hear what you've been up to and don't make it sound too fun. But what have you been up to this year?
Vivian Kaye: [03:52] Girl, Well, first of all, 2020 was a hot mess. But you know, I'm always one of those people who take shit and turn it into manure. So, what I did was in 2020, I'm more or less focused on Vivian Kaye the brand. And that's only because with my business, Kinky Curly Yaki, the supply chain was a bit of a problem.
So, I decided to focus on what I could control. And what I could control is helping people and by helping people, it was being Vivian. So that was, showing up more on Instagram and stories, doing more podcasts and, and events or not events, but virtual events. But it was just being more leaning more into Vivian Kaye
And being more authentic to who I am. So it was just showing up more.
Emily Thompson: [04:56] I also saw that you really got into plant life. So finding ways to nurture yourself through all of this as well. That way that you can.
Vivian Kaye: [05:10] That's what I was doing. Absolutely.
Emily Thompson: [05:15] I couldn't make time for your plants. I love it. I've loved seeing you because all we're going to make this about plants. Um, I definitely feel like you have done a good bit of blooming this year, right? Like in your personal brand, like really showing up and in sharing things in the way that you can. I think so many people, so many people took 2020 as an opportunity and no shame legit. If this was you by any means, we all have dealt with these things in our own way. But so many people spend 2020 sort of like sheltering in and, and dealing and surviving and all of these things, but it really made such a profound, almost juxtaposition to those who were able to really show up in, um, in really big ways in their brand to live their purpose a little more, um, a little more authentically.
And I feel like you are definitely one of those people.
Vivian Kaye: [06:13] I've always been myself, but not too loudly. And what happened? What really pushed me over the edge was the whole black lives matter movement. Where I was, what I felt was,a lot of times I was always walking on eggshells, not quite being 100% Vivian, but then when all that came about, it was like, shit hit the fan.
And I was like, you know what? Fuck it. I'm just going to be 100%. If you don't like what I have to say, then that's your problem. Not mine. And especially because I tend to do a lot of things with humor and you'll be more like you're as an entrepreneur. Oh no, you gotta be more polished. You know what screw that. I'm going to be me. I get it, if you like it, I love it. If you don't, you can go kick rocks with flip flops.
Emily Thompson: [07:11] Yes, you can definitely go do that. I really have gone on to live this, this sort of bit that you preach that authenticity is how you grow your business, right? Like the more you became authentic, the more you, our brand has grown. You're like a walking poster child for what you preach.
Vivian Kaye: [07:30] Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you got to take your own advice, right? There's no point in soccer. Oh, I want to be authentic. Like if you have to go learn how to be authentic, then there's something wrong. I think, if you have to learn how to do it, it's just really, it's just being yourself and warts and wrinkles and pimples and grey hairs and rolls and cellulites, all that. All of that. Just be that.
Emily Thompson: [07:56] And it's funny you say, if you have to go learn it, there's a problem because what you really have to do is unlearn.
That is the process of coming into your authenticity. It's a process of unlearning. Yes. All of the things. Then you talked about how. How you have maybe not transitioned, but how you've been able to bring more focus into Vivian Kaye the brand. Are there any other shifts that you've seen in your business in the year, since we have chatted?
Vivian Kaye: [08:31] Well, you know, it's just because of all those supply chain issues, it really gave me, it gave me time to really look at my business. Like, am I enjoying what I'm doing? Or have I just been sort of just going along with it? And so it gave me a chance to really look at it and really, to really study it because to be honest, in the last couple of years, I haven't enjoyed it.
And only because one is e-commerce and when I started the business, I didn't start the business to make money. I started it to solve my own problem. Right. But then what happened was competition started to come in and they started to make the product that I sell, which is textured hair extensions for black women into a commodity.
So they were doing it faster and cheaper and just going at it from all angles and, you know, just spending all kinds of money on ads. And it's like, but they didn't have the soul behind it. And so then I took this moment, this moment in time to just breathe, take a deep breath, looked at the business and said, I don't like what's happening.
What can I do? What can I do to change it? And so then, what I realized is that I hadn't dropped the new product in like three years or two years or something. So I was like, Oh, okay, well, let me see what I like and what I don't like. And then I just, from there, I figured out, you know what, we're not going back to what we thought was normal.
Anytime soon, all of us are on zoom calls. We're spending more time in front of screens. We're wearing masks now. So the emphasis on how we look isn't as I guess pressing. So now it's just more about being comfortable. So what can we do? What can I do to be comfortable? I'm going to create a wig that you can put on when your zoom call is ringing.
Or when your FaceTime is ringing. You have enough time to put this wig on and you'll be presentable. So, I took the time to really just slow down and reevaluate where I was going with this business and to fall back in love with it.
Emily Thompson: [10:40] I feel like you have the most amazing ability to solve the problem of this moment. I feel like so many people go into businesses to solve some problem or a future problem or an old problem or whatever it may be. And for you, I feel like every part of your story that I have heard, it's not necessarily that it's some grand scheme. It's like, what is the solution to the problem that I have right now?
And it works great for you.
Vivian Kaye: [11:15] Yes because you know why it's part of my whole jumping off cliffs with no parachutes. So now it's like, okay, we've all jumped off this cliff. How can we land softly? So then I just think of, okay, well maybe if we put on a, I don't know, parachute pants, maybe that'll work.
Just figure it out. And that's the thing with being an entrepreneur. One of the things I really focused on this don't focus on the plan, focus on the goal. But as you can see, you could have planned all you want, but it was not going to go the way it was supposed to go this year and I don't even know if it's going to do that even in the near future.
So it's really focusing on the goal. So what's the goal? The goal for me is to provide as much confidence to black women as possible. But then what I ended up doing was widening that goal. How can I provide more confidence to women? And that's through being me and, I happen to be a black woman, but I'm still, I'm a woman.
We, you and I, we have the same feelings. I chose to focus on a broader audience and just bring joy where, one of the things that I really preached during this whole period is that you either have to be a solution.
You have to either be a resource or a relief.
Emily Thompson: [13:12] I remember you saying that very early on in the pandemic and it has stuck with me this entire time. And I even see, I even like to categorize people in those two along the way. I think you are completely right in that.
Vivian Kaye: [13:26] Yeah, so I've sort of done both and that's the thing I can never, I can never just choose a side.
So I've just decided to be both. I can be both a resource and a relief. And being authentic and showing how my life is going and how I'm dealing with this so that other people don't feel so alone in this whole thing. You can be in a house full of people and still be lonely.
I just chose to show more of that and my therapy was through plants. I was like, this is so messed up. What can I do to fix it? I know I'm going to buy 50 million plants and it's going to fix everything. It did not know what it did. It made my house into a fungus nap hotel. That's what it did. I still love the plants, but I went a little overboard there. I was trying to make up for something. My all-time high was almost 60 plants.
I'm now down to just under 30. So I'm good with that. Yeah.
Emily Thompson: [14:31] I want to ask the hard question. What happened to those other 30?
Vivian Kaye: [14:33] They would just kinda just it's over. They just said you know what? We've had enough. Goodbye.
Emily Thompson: [15:04] So you sort of like you were kind of beginning to allude that maybe Kinky Curly Yaki or your involvement was over, but you are still doing it and launched a new product, correct?
So would you perhaps say that maybe this sort of pause and reflection, did it reinvigorate your passion?
Vivian Kaye: [15:27] Absolutely. And what I needed to do is I guess maybe put my passion somewhere else, which was helping women in general. Then it helped me to refocus to just go back and refocus on Kinky Curly Yaki.
Because what I'd realized is that I'd sort of removed myself from the business I have people who work for me. But I wasn't no longer showing up for the brand because I thought, it doesn't really need me. I mean, let it just run as a business, as a faceless or a headless business. But then I saw that it needs something and I kept bringing in people to do it and they weren't quite getting it.
And I was like the only person who can do it is me.
Emily Thompson: [16:13] Wonderful! That’s fantastic! I’m so glad to hear that you are one of those who has a power to claim in this process over your ability to show up in your brand as Vivian Kaye, but also this remembrance of the power you bring into Kinky Curly Yaki as well.
You are pivotal parts of both this environment that you're a part of as someone who is helping women cultivate their confidence, especially as business owners, but also in this place of helping black women find confidence through having fabulous hair.
Emily Thompson: [17:05] Has it been awful for you?
Vivian Kaye: [17:10] It hasn’t been bad and I’m grateful for that.
Emily Thompson: [17:21] Let's talk about some of this growth. This is really what I wanted to really want to dig in with you today and hear some of your thoughts around this growth that you have seen because your platform, your influence has grown a good bit. I would say over the past year.
Vivian Kaye: [17:40] Yes. It has been kind of interesting.
Emily Thompson: [17:49] How do you feel about that? what has it equated to in your business to grow such influence?
Vivian Kaye: [17:58] It really means that there are more eyes watching me than I don't know are watching.
And that's kind of interesting. It's very interesting. Like, how do you know about me? Like yesterday I had a luxury brand reach out and you're watching me. it's been interesting, But some people are like, where have you been?
I've been here. I've been here, it just took a pandemic and black lives matters for you to find me. That's, really what it is. It's being like, finally having my voice amplified by the people, the key stakeholders in this whole game we're playing.
It's truly through that. And me just being like, you know what, if I'm going to be in the spotlight, I might as well take it in a run before they take it away from me. It's been amazing.
And it's just that I have the impact on women, especially women of color, knowing that, I don't have to fit this trope, this angry black woman, or even the professional, you can just be you. And I think that's, what's been so rewarding about this and being able to, just spread a little Vivian all over the world.
Emily Thompson: [19:39] It's funny you say that because the thing that I feel like another one of those things that's really stuck with me over the past year is did someone put you on their vision board?
Vivian Kaye: [19:50] They did. I’ve been on two vision boards so far.
But it gets mind-blowing what it really shows me is that you don't have to be Oprah to have influence. I remember that. I don't know if you saw it. I bought a kennel that lights up the seven different colors. If you do not know what I'm talking about, go to my Instagram and just scroll until you see a kettle sitting by itself.
And the amount of people who ran out and bought that cattle. Cause I made the mundane seem interesting. I wish more people would use their influence just to make people feel okay about themselves or buy the boring things they think they're doing. Because everything you're doing isn't going to be five star, phenomenal luxury, top-notch, whatever.
It could just be the everyday things. And those everyday things are the things that actually matter.
Emily Thompson: [20:56] Yeah. There is a power that we willed as influencers to either do good or bad or make it magical the mundane. And I think social media culture has brought that power to people who don't understand what it is that they have the capability of doing.
And I think even, even deeper, especially Instagram influencer culture, this idea that everything has to be so. Fucking sparkly.
These are really great filters and remove all the people from the historical sites and all of the things. But I love that you are really focusing on the real life of doing good and making an impact with just the basic everyday things. And even using those basic things every day to elevate your clout as someone who needs to be listened to.
Vivian Kaye: [20:16] I think the influencer game is starting to change. It's starting to what they thought were the people that they thought were influential. It turns out they're not as influential as they thought they were. it's the people who make people feel like what they're doing every day is good.
Emily Thompson: [22:33] Yeah, for sure! I have a couple of friends who, especially in the e-commerce space use influencers in marketing and more. So it's becoming true that it's not the big influencers that are going to make any kind of impact for your brand, it's micro-influencers, right?
It’s the people who actually have real relationships with the people who follow them. Who will have a more engaged audience and the person who has 5.6 million followers, but like 80% of them are robots. And the influencer has never spoken to literally a single one of them. So all of this to say that the influencer space really is beginning to shift. Where realness is actually more on that pedestal than fake amazingness. It’s refreshing.
Vivian Kaye: [23:36] Because we can see through it now that we have the time. We’re going to watch carefully.
{Cut: FreshBooks Commercial}
Emily Thompson: [23:54] This episode is brought to you by fresh books. We talk about fresh books a lot around here because they've been a sponsor partner of ours for years because they are the perfect tool for so many of you bosses who are listening to this right now. But we often get the question of, is it fresh books, right from my business, because I know a lot of bosses don't like to build conventional businesses and basically FreshBooks has plans designed for so many types of small businesses.
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Emily Thompson: [24:39] I want to talk then. One of the things I really want to dig in with you is your relationship with your audience. Because we were just sort of talking like that kind of is the magical piece that was missing for a long time in the boom of big influencers. But is now being seen as really the valuable piece.
So I would love to hear from you, how you felt along the way as you've grown that platform and what your relationship is with your broad, your broad audience?
Vivian Kaye: [25:22] I like to think that we're pretty close. I was like, wow! I think I've made it were the other day, someone tried to mom shame me.
And I was like, wow, I must actually be dude, be somebody if someone actually wants to shame me. But my relationship with my audience is integral. It's the reason why social media is supposed to exist. You're supposed to have a connection with the people who follow you.
You want them to send you DMS, like the amount of apologies that I would receive from people who were like, I'm sorry for spamming your DMs with my likes or my comments, or sending you a lifestyle. This is what I'm here for. I'm here to connect with you. it's not a one-way street.
I'm not going to just show you this, the shitty data that I have and then expect you to leave me alone. Or the amazing day that I have and expect you to just praise me or whatever. I'm going to show you the highs and lows, and I want to connect with you so that you can be like me. I felt the same way or that happened to me too.
Or thank you for sharing that. And this is what this is all about. It's all about human connection that we need now more than ever. So I love connecting with my audience. In fact, if I could give up everything else and just focus on the connecting, the DMS, the voice notes, the videos, creating content, I would do that.
I would give everything up in a heartbeat just to do that.
If I could spend time creating content that connects with my audience, I would do it.
Emily Thompson: [27:22] I don't want to get coachy, but I want to dive into that.
Vivian Kaye: [27:26] I would do it. I've always said, I'm not like I'm not a CEO. I'm not built for that. If I could spend time again, just connecting with customers and creating content to make you feel better about yourself or what you're doing or to make you better or whatever the case may be, If I could do that. I think that's what I'm built to do.
It comes to me naturally and I enjoy doing it, honestly. I couldn't have gotten through this whole pandemic without them.
Thank you, ladies.
Emily Thompson: [28:13] I don't often hear from people that social media moves them closer to what they feel is sort of their core genius. So I very much admire you for that, because you're right in seeing you on social media and seeing how it is that you engage and how openly that you share.
I think you're one of the few ones who really is using your authenticity and the social media platform to be more of who you are. I like watching it.
Emily Thompson: [28:56] How much time do you spend rewatching yourself?
Vivian Kaye: [28:59] Some days, I'm just like you watch myself again, because honestly I do not plan. There are some portions that I plan, like let's just say, well I know for a fact it's a virtual school then, but then a lot of stuff that I do just sort of happens.
And I roll with it because people are reacting.
Oh, I love that. Oh, do more of that. Do it. Okay, cool. Let's do it. And so the more engaged you are, the more likely I'm going to produce it. I love it. I just got onto Tik Tok and I've been avoiding it.
I've been avoiding Tik Tok because I'm like, not another platform. But then, someone actually took it.
My, what was, what would Chad do? Someone took it and, uh, tried to spin it off as their own. Yeah. One of my followers, you sent it to me because they know that they're like, I feel because when you watch this video, you see this girl she's doing these mannerisms, she's phrasing it.
And you can tell it's not natural to her. And so then I'm like this girl went and stole my stuff, all my whole thing. So no, I have to show up on Tik Tok and everyone's like, that's about time. And I've been avoiding it.
Emily Thompson: [30:21] It’s funny that you bring this up because that is what I’m going to ask. How’s Chad doing?
Vivian Kaye: [30:28] Chad's doing okay. He's doing okay. He's on Tik Tok now and he's doing his thing on Tik Tok and he's got merch now. Yes. Yeah. He's got merch. He's got mugs. He's got stickers. He's got sweatshirts. He's got everything. Anything you can put chat on.
I got it trademarked. I love it. It's that thing that you keep in your bra or your back pocket or your purse to just whip out when those self-limiting beliefs just sort of want to eat at you. And it's just something to whip out and be like, Nope.
Emily Thompson: [31:11] For anyone who is not familiar, I think we talked about this in my previous episode with Vivian. You would probably explain this way better than I ever will, but tell us about Chad.
Vivian Kaye: [31:26] So Chad, isn't a person he's not a specific person.
He is not meant to bash men. It's not meant to diminish anyone's accomplishments. That's not what Chad is about. So what Chad is meant to do is to help you to immediately dismiss any self-limiting beliefs that pop into your head. So there's this example when men apply for jobs when they're only 60% qualified.
Whereas women tend to only apply when they're 100% qualified. We don't ask for the money we deserve. We don't take the risks that we need to take in order to move our businesses forward. But men do that. Chad does that. That's how he's been so successful because he has that audacity.
And that's something that, especially myself as a black woman, I have to pull out because society tells me I shouldn't be able to, I shouldn't be doing a lot of things, but I'm seeing examples of people who have no business doing it, doing it, and they are mediocre at best. So, it's my way of pulling out the audacity that's inside of me.
By channelling a mediocre white guy. Now I'm not saying go out and be mediocre. That is absolutely not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is you need to have the same gumption, the same audacity, the same energy, the same mood, the same mindset as that mediocre guy, from work, from school, from the office, from wherever take that audacity and use it for yourself.
So whenever you're in a position where you're questioning your qualifications, you don't know, you're unsure. Ask yourself, what would Chad do and do that? I love it just don't be an asshole about it. Don't be an asshole, right?
Emily Thompson: [33:22] Don’t be that Chad. Chad has become the mainstay in the Being Boss community. We have Monday meetups. Every Monday, we have calls all month long and quite often a Chad will come up. So it tells us about someone at their office or this guy who popped into their community or whatever it may be. And everyone's like, is he okay?
Vivian Kaye: [33:46] Here’s an example of audience connection.
Someone came into my DMs and said, you know, they started a podcast or at a networking event, and this PR they were talking about, the person asked them a guy, asked them what they did. And they said, you know, they were doing a podcast. They've been doing it for two and a half years or something like that.
And the guy was like, well, are you on YouTube? And she was like, no, you know, the way we're set up and you know, the audience we want to reach, we're not on YouTube. The guy was like, you gotta be on YouTube. Well, why do I gotta be on you? Well, you gotta be. Because Chad was just, you gotta be on YouTube. And so then she's like, okay, well, how long have you been doing the podcast?
Oh, well, I haven't started yet. So you haven't done anything. Pushing you are unqualified you are telling me the qualified one what I should be doing all because you think. You know, better than I do. And I actually have done the work. So you don't let your confidence override my qualifications. That's what you're saying, Chad.
So that's really what it is. So you just have to let you have the qualifications girl, you have them, you just need to override. You need to couple your qualifications with your confidence. And that's what Chad's about. It's just the energy. It's the mindset. It's the mood. It's the attitude that you need to seize in order to do the big things in life.
Emily Thompson: [35:01] Okay. Two big things are coming up for me. I mean, one of them is going to be very interesting to talk about. One of them is just a little story. I need to tell you where I actually got one of your tote bags. I saw them come out and I was like, I need a, what would Chad do? I think it was supposed to the community.
I think a couple of bosses might have gone Chad shopping. I used to carry it, occasionally now I never, I haven't gone anywhere, really with it. However, I've had it out a couple of times and two times I've had someone go who's Chad, both of them were obviously Chads.
So every time or every time that has happened, it's given me a very interesting opportunity to chat, to tell a potential Chad about it which I don't think is probably one of the reasons why you created these, but I'll tell you it's fun, like a byproduct of having all these people carrying around Chad tote bags.
Emily Thompson: [36:22] I think the way I found an interesting way to bring this full circle, because Chad there and the conversation about the podcast and YouTube is trying to influence without authenticity. Like he hasn't done these things. He's just telling you what to do. Whereas someone with real influence has done the work and it's through that proof of doing that they are able to actually influence people to do things.
That is such an important distinction and just like a deeper numbness to your anti jaggedness or maybe protagonist depending on the day. But Chad's not showing up authentically.
He's not influencing from a place of authority. Literally at all. And so I think that's I, what would Chad do, but how would Chad not do this too? We should all probably claim.
Vivian Kaye: [37:39] I agree. One of the things I always make sure to tell people this isn't about being a jerk.
This isn't about being a Karen. It's not about that. It's just the audacity. It's the authenticity. It's the sincerity. You just need to tell people, you do use your voice. That's really what it is. That’s a very Chad thing there in a good way. Whenever I talk about Chad’s, it’s always in a good way. Always good, like the more positive.
Emily Thompson: [38:24] Well, I do love it. There is a merch. If anyone needs what would Chad do? A tote or sweatshirt or nice sticker for your laptop in case you'd like to strike up some conversations with a chatter.
It's a good chat to have. Okay, I want to talk, going to go back a little bit to this growth and your influences, or sort of start wrapping this up a little bit and take it back to the business. I feel like we talked about how, the reflection has caused some shift in how it is that you do business, both more focusing on your personal brand, but also sort of reinvigorating your passion for Kinky Curly Yaki.
I'm wondering how the growth of your platform has maybe shifted how you show up in your businesses or change any tactics in your business. Are you relying more on social media? What does that look like?
Vivian Kaye: [39:27] I learned a lot more about connecting with people through Vivian Kaye.
And now I've taken it and applied it to Kinky Curly Yaki, or I'm trying to apply it to Kinky Curly AQI and it's been interesting because you get caught up, especially when you start doing a million, plus you start to get caught up in separation from the business, but then you forget, you're the reason, you're the reason why the business flourished in the first place.
So I needed to get back to that, cause what kept happening was I got caught up in the wall. Pull myself out and let other people do it or let other people be the face. But I realized that, so this is me. I am the business, Kinky Curly Yaki and I are the same. We're one in the same.
So I needed to get back to that. It's been good. I don't want to be a $10 billion company. That's what I really learned. I don't want to be that.
Emily Thompson:[40:30] I have had several million dollar plus bosses in the past three to six months.
Telling me the exact same thing. I think you get to a point in your growth where you want to see how far you can go. You've just proven to yourself that the sky's the limit. So let's see how far up this guy goes. But for so many, this time hasn’t brought in a ceiling by any means, but just more redefined the goal.
Vivian Kaye: [41:02] Could it turn out the ceiling, like the higher you go, the thinner the air gets. The more money, the more problems, the more people you got to bring in, the more cooks in the kitchen. I didn't like that. I didn't like it. So let's come back down to earth.
Let's get closer to home. Let's get back to the why, why I started and the reason why and to the people.
Emily Thompson: [41:32] Any thoughts from you about or how do you feel about this expansion? Like excited, like you need more plants, less plants?
Vivian Kaye: [41:44] I'm excited. I feel like I finally found my footing. Because at first, I was like, Oh, e-commerce coach, I don't really like e-commerce that much. I know how to do it, but I don't love it. And I was like, okay, well, I don't want to become like a life coach. Cause I don't think I'm a life coach.
Like shit happens and I've got through it. I don't think that qualifies me as a coach. Just going through this whole, showing up and being authentic, and being there. And then I thought, you know what? I'm like Oprah meets Gary V.
And that's not something. And as soon as I say it, people are like, that makes sense.
So there’s no blueprint then I that's all the more reason to do it because there's no one that sets an example. All I know is Oprah was her and she's doing really well.
Gary is himself and they're doing really well. So if I somehow bring both of their madness together and I'll make it happen and that's Vivian. I'm stoked and I want to be able to just get everyone to Viv a little.
Emily Thompson: [43:00] In that case, what's coming next for you. What are, what are Vivian's next steps?
Vivian Kaye: [43:16] I'm focusing a little bit more and Kinky Curly Yaki now. I thought I wanted to do the whole digital courses read loud, blah, but it turns out I want to really just build a community.
Like just the community of women and they not necessarily entrepreneurs, just women who just are bold and unconventional and just one of again, Viv a little, and want a group of like-minded people surrounding them and to guide them and to just be their friends online. Cause I mean, let's face it, this is what we need right now. That connection. And if I am the conduit to a bunch of people connecting them and I want to be that person. So,that's what I'm working on next. I'm looking to launch, I'm calling it, the grown woman network. Just because I just felt limited by and I didn't want to be an entrepreneur.
I didn't want to be a mom. I didn't want it. Cause I'm all. I'm a multi-passionate, multi-dimensional woman. And I felt like the grown woman networks just sort of encompasses all that. So look out for that, The Grown Woman Network.
Emily Thompson: [44:27] We'll keep an eye out for that. I think that's fantastic.
And what sort of manifestation or what you've discovered of your path this year, from what I've heard, it feels like it's all very much coming full circle for you. Well, Vivian, how can people find more about you?
Vivian Kaye: [44:54] I am an absolute pleasure to follow on the Instagrams.
If you haven't been there already, my Instagram stories are legendary. Um, I've just discovered the Tik Tok so follow me. Most of my shenanigans will be on Instagram, but you can also follow me on Tik Tok. It's Vivian Kaye with an E.
Emily Thompson: [45:24] Perfect. You're also on YouTube?
Vivian Kaye: [45:27] How could I forget about YouTube? I am on YouTube. So I've moved my weekly show called Mind Yo Business with Vivian. So you can find me on basically just type in my name and find me girl, however you want.
Follow me, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter. I'm on Twitter too.
Emily Thompson: [46:18] Love it. Perfect. And my final question for you, Vivian. Always the best one. What makes you feel most boss?
Vivian Kaye: [46:30] I'm going to say it's the audacity.
I think every boss needs a little, just a cup full and who am I kidding? A keg, a keg full of audacity. And that's what makes me feel like a boss.
Emily Thompson: [46:48] Yep. And I dare say probably very willing to do a keg stand.
Vivian Kaye: [46:54] I won't tell you about the trick that I put the bottle of beer, but fruit to my boobs and I can drink it from my boobs. That's the thing to me about it.
Emily Thompson: [47:03] I think I need to request an Instagram story.
Vivian Kaye: [47:09] I will do it if I'm on a beach. As soon as I get to a beach, it's over. I guarantee that's going to happen if there's a beach, I'll do it.
Emily Thompson: [47:22] Well, Vivian, thank you so much for coming to hang out with me. It was an absolute pleasure to catch up with you and hear how 2020 has shaped up for you.
Vivian Kaye: [47:30] Well, thank you for having me.
Emily Thompson: [47:35] My favorite takeaway from this episode, and I feel the need to repeat it for anyone in the back is you can just be you and your business on social media with your family and friends. Will it cause things to shift? Absolutely. But even in the midst of major upheaval, the outcome will be you feeling more aligned and alive in the work and life that you build and if further discussion of influence or any number of very boss topics is something you'd like to dive deeper into and very much so I encourage you to check out the Being Boss Community. It's a monthly membership for creative business owners. That includes meetups challenges, content, and more, learn more and join in @beingboss.club slash community.
And until next time do the work be boss.